Ch10. Tony the Sorcerer?

"Are you sure this is wise?" Karl Mordo approached The Ancient One as she watched new disciples trying to conjure a portal with their Sling Rings. All except one.

Tony Stark was sitting with his legs crossed under him and studying the easiest book in the whole Kamar Taj, the guide on how to channel the energy from the Sling Ring to open portals. His eyebrows were furrowed and his head slightly tilted as if in confusion. He seemed a bit lost and The Ancient One eagerly awaited what he would do next. Watching the man whose future she didn't see became an entertaining pastime for her.

"You mean Stark?" The Ancient One asked, already knowing where this discussion could lead to and also which result she wanted. It was mind-numbingly boring...

"Yes." Mordo nodded, glancing distrustfully at Tony.

The Ancient One inwardly sighed when she saw that. Later, this man could and probably will be the reason why she will accept Dr. Strange as a disciple. So many futures showed that focal point that she was almost certain it will happen.

Unfortunately, Mordo still had six years to become that kind of man. The Mordo right now didn't like nor trust arrogant rich intellectuals. A category that was as if defined by the existence of Tony Stark.

The Ancient One couldn't fault him for that. All his enemies fell into this category, after all.

"Do you really think he will not misuse the power he gains here?" Mordo asked, a bit of accusation in his tone, and from his expression, it was clear he did not think so.

"On the contrary, I know he will." The Ancient One gave Mordo an amused glance. Before he could start protesting again, she looked back at Stark who was still hunched over the simplest book the Kamar Taj possessed, intently studying it as if it was the Holy Script. "I don't trust him to not use his powers for his own desires. Stark is a scientist, inventor, and researcher. Those kinds of people have a hard time not opening the forbidden doors if only because they are curious. The words 'forbidden' and 'rules' have a different meaning for them."

"Then why..." Mordo asked in bewilderment.

"Because I've seen his past and under all that arrogant bravado he shows, Anthony Stark is genuinely a good person. I trust him to not break the most important rule of our, as he calls it, cult." She said and mirthfully chuckled while Mordo almost choked at that, "He won't become some kind of Supervillain or threat to our reality. He will prod and test the boundaries but he is well aware of where he should not tread. He also knows that some secrets are better to stay that way. So, while I don't trust him to restrain himself from using what he learns here or from learning as much as he can despite his aversion to our kind of 'Hocus Pocus'," She chuckled again, "I trust him to be responsible with it. He is much more than you could see at first glance."

"That... You have an unusually high opinion of him." Mordo's lips thinned as he threw Stark a contemplative look. He... wasn't comfortable with him being in Kamar Taj. Stark was famous and that kind of publicity could lead to the reveal of Sorcerers to the wide world. That was only one of the many, many problems that Stark's presence here could cause. He didn't think accepting him to Kamar Taj was worth it.

The Ancient One noncommittally hummed in response, "Believe it or not, Anthony Stark was always one of the most likely candidates to become the Sorcerer Supreme after me."

"WHAT!?" Mordo reflexively exclaimed, loudly enough to stop the practice of the apprentices in the courtyard.

The Ancient One gestured for the apprentices to continue practicing before she looked at Mordo and lifted her eyebrows, causing him to slightly bow his head in embarrassment.

"I have waited for Tony Stark to show up at our gates for years. But when he didn't come even after reaching a certain age, I knew it was simply not to be. If he showed up then, I would have taken him in as my personal disciple and groomed him to succeed me. But the future had something else in the store for us, and Stark was not even supposed to become a Sorcerer anymore." The Ancient One turned back towards Tony with signs of amazement in her eyes, "And yet, here he is. Something I had no idea will come to pass. Something that should not even be possible." She whispered the last part in quiet excitement.

Mordo's eyes widened in shock hearing her. He was aware that The Ancient One could see future possibilities. She knew he would come to her. She knew his problems, desires, and goals, and she knew how to teach him in a way that would make him overcome his own demons. He deeply respected The Ancient One. So, hearing that she didn't see something in the future was very disturbing for him.

His quiet shock was interrupted when The Ancient One suddenly lifted her hand and pointed in front of her, "Look."

Mordo did as she told him and his eyes landed at...

"How? It's been only two days!" He gulped at the frightening thing he was witnessing and for the first time, he understood what was The Ancient One talking about.

Stark opened a portal.

That would have been perfectly fine if he did not arrive at Kamar Taj just two days ago and didn't spend most of that time reading books rather than practicing.

A normal apprentice would usually take anywhere from week to month of intense practice to open a portal and that was after their mindset was adjusted to one suited for the Mystic Arts. Mordo himself took two weeks of practice, fourteen hours a day without stop, each day.

Yet, here was Stark who did it in only after a few tries and deep read-through of the guidebook?

Mordo didn't know if he should feel astonished, jealous, proud, disbelieving, or disgruntled. His feelings were such a strange mix of positive and negative it stumped even him. This... was not supposed to be possible!

"Anthony Edward Stark has a uniquely suited mind for the Mystical Arts." The Ancient One started speaking and Mordo was glad for the distraction from his own feelings, "Usually, intellectuals who put too much stake in logic have a hard time adjusting their mindset to one needed for magic. But Anthony... he doesn't see what we do as magic. He only sees a science he doesn't understand."

"But that's ridiculous. The Mystic Arts are not science." Mordo said, incensed. That kind of worldview went against everything he was taught to believe about the Mystic Arts! "There are no hard, defined rules that apply in every situation. Most of the magic doesn't even give sense and yet they work!"

"But he doesn't believe that. And... that is the result." The Ancient One gestured towards Stark who was playing with portals, trying to open two at the same time... which secretly made even her stop in her tracks when she saw sparks of the second portal forming before failing and fizzling out of existence. Her lips twitched at the sight as did her left eye.

Now that... was not supposed to be possible.

Stark was supposed to be marvelous at Mystic Arts once he went through a lot of hardship to adjust his mindset. Yet, here he was, destroying every predetermined notion she had of him.

She could understand how Mordo felt. The Sling Ring had the capacity to create one portal at a time. Stark beginning to open the second one meant he wasn't using the Sling Ring for it. It meant he was not using the powers of the time stone channeled by the Sling Ring for it.

Which was simply a ridiculous concept...

Making portals without Sling Ring was one of the hardest things to accomplish in Mystic Arts.

'And yet, it is happening right in front of my eyes. The world has become a strange place...' She inwardly shook her head in disbelief while outwardly she had her mask of perfect calmness donned on her face.

She was only glad that Mordo had no idea what Stark's attempt and small success at opening the second portal meant. His feelings were bad enough as it was with his current understanding and view of Stark.

Of course, The Ancient One was not going to tell Stark about his talent and she fully intended to forbid Mordo from mentioning it in front of him too. Stark's ego was big enough as it was without someone feeding it.

She also had a theory for Stark's apparent success with the Mystic Arts. His time after his death clearly helped him with coming to terms with some things, especially with all the things he experienced in life, and his use of the infinity stones just might have had a bit of an unforeseen effect on him.

The power of the infinity stones, the power capable of altering the entire universe at a fundamental level, was channeled right through his body and spirit in amounts even she who used the time stone for several centuries now, couldn't even come close to.

Stark used all five stones at once with enough oomph to alter the whole universe in an instant. It was really no wonder his body crumbled on itself from the impact.

But souls were more durable and malleable...

While The Ancient One doubted the effects will be obvious or give Stark a sudden power-up, as she would have experienced something like that long time ago if using the infinity stone worked that way, she had to admit the more she used the time stone, the easier she found using that branch of Mystic Arts.

'Well, I think I have my explanation.' She smiled as she watched how Stark was launched slightly into the air and fell on his ass when he channeled a bit too much power into the second portal after getting frustrated and lost control before it blew in his face.